


jealousy is the highest form of flattery

by lumiinary



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Implied Relationships, Jealousy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sarcasm, Talking, jefftony is basically implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 11:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20581910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumiinary/pseuds/lumiinary
Summary: Ness finds himself to be envious of Paula's abilities, but also realizes he's in love with her: more at 11.





	jealousy is the highest form of flattery

While on their way to the Summers Cultural Museum, which Poo suggested that they should go to after he joined them, a taxi from earlier blocked the way. Ness reluctantly got ready to fight, seeing as he wanted to get it over with. Despite this, he was positive that they’d be able to blow it to smithereens in a matter of possibly two minutes, maybe less if they were lucky. 

But before he could move a muscle, Paula gracefully pressed forward, fire reaching her fingertips as she hurtled it at the taxi. Poo began to pound at the taxi with his bare fists, causing more than a dent, but Ness wasn’t focused on him. He caught himself staring at Paula, a smirk crossing her face, something he’d find  _ himself  _ doing at times, and oh shit, he’s  _ staring _ ! 

He shook his head, shifting his mindset to the battle. He shouldn’t be so…  _ fixated _ on Paula right now. But he is! And he couldn’t help it, either!

The fight ended before he knew it, and once he figured out to prevent himself from spacing out, he noticed the other three staring at him. And for what?

“Ness?” Jeff asked, and he could tell it was him due to the British accent morphing his voice. “You alright? You’re not homesick, are you? We could come with you to-”

Come to think of it,  _ was  _ he homesick? He couldn’t remember the last time he had thought of home, and he  _ was  _ getting distracted, but he noticed the lack of reminiscing. “What? Nah, I’m fine. I’m just… spacin’ out, is all.” Yeah, that seemed right. 

“You seem flustered,” Paula said, suddenly close to him. Oh God, she’s  _ close  _ to him. “You sure there isn’t something up with you?”

_ Too close! _

“N- nope, no problem here,” Ness stuttered, “There’s totally not anything up with me. Y- yeah, definitely not.”

It was hard to lie due to her being  _ so close  _ to him. 

Eventually, Paula gave up. “Okay. But be sure to tell us if there  _ is  _ something up, you hear?”

“Uh-huh!” 

He reached the lead, heading to the museum, but not before receiving a mysterious phone call.

__   
  
Even with all the stuff they were tasked to do, Ness couldn’t help but contemplate about earlier. It was beginning to distract him from everything, and he hated how the rest was able to notice. He made it so  __ obvious , it was embarrassing. He even began to stammer in front of Paula! Though she took it like a champ, something she always did, especially when in the face of danger. 

He couldn’t help but feel… jealous. She was everything he wanted to be. Well, maybe not  _ everything _ , but when it came to her powerful PSI abilities and amiable demeanour, then  _ yeah _ , he sure as hell wanted that. As well as jealousy, every hint of being flustered was displayed on his face. He had a notion that he liked her, but that couldn’t be it, could it? He didn’t want to believe it. Not a word of it.

He’s had crushes before, mostly those that went to his school. He never went far with them, but the feelings were there. Two separate occasions stuck out to him, though. He remembered there was a girl he liked, and, despite barely knowing her, he confessed to her, but it ended up a catastrophe,  enough for the girl to call him a pervert. He knew full well that he wasn’t, however. The memory was too vague for him to remember, but it was what he remembered for now. Another time, he became close friends with a boy that was his classmate, until he was told by said classmate that he wasn’t interested in getting intimate, which caused his relationship with him to falter. That, and a few offhand remarks about the subject from him.

As he continued to think about it, he remembered all the times he jumped and felt his face go red every time Paula called his name. So maybe he found himself in love with her, but at what cost? It wasn’t like she’d return her feelings, if she had any. 

He was starting to go into a downward spiral as he continued to think of the bleak chances of Paula liking him too, to the point where he couldn’t even hear Jeff and Poo telling him that they should probably go to Fourside because of that phone call. 

“Are you  _ sure  _ you’re not homesick?” Jeff asked, impatience dripping in his voice. “You’re not usually  _ this  _ distracted.” 

“Perhaps Jeff is right, Master Ness.” Poo added. Now  _ he’s  _ agreeing with him, too?

Ness sighed, arms by his sides, looking the other way. “Hey, Jeff, can I talk to you alone for a moment, please?”

Before Jeff could object, Ness grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging him to however far he could go. 

“How far are we-”

After a while, Ness shushed him, then stopped abruptly. 

“Why are we here?” Jeff couldn’t help but ask, “And why so far away from Poo and Paula?”

“There’s… something I need to tell you.”

Jeff met his eyes, noticing his blushing face.

“Go ahead.” 

Ness tried to keep himself composed, but it was hard to, with what he was about to say.

“I think I might like Paula. As in,  _ like  _ like.”

Jeff kept silent for a moment until he uttered, “And you’re embarrassed because of that?”

“Yes!!” Ness exclaimed, “She’s just… too good for me, yanno?”

Jeff nodded. “I can relate. I, too, like someone who appears to be what you’re describing.”

“Wait, really?” Ness asked. “What’s she like? Are you close?”

Jeff was getting overwhelmed about all the sudden questions. “Hold on, this is about  _ you _ , not me. Now, tell me. What do you like about Paula?”

Ness sighed reluctantly at Jeff’s refusal to open up. Nevertheless, he answered the question with added ease. 

“Well, uhh, she’s nice, and pretty, and I dunno, has literally every single quality that I don’t have? And  _ she  _ gets PK Fire and I don’t? What kinda twisted bullcrap is that?”

“Try having  _ no  _ PSI,” Jeff said dryly. 

“Oh right,” Ness said, letting go of Jeff’s shoulders, realizing he wasn’t considering  _ his  _ feelings on the matter.

“Look, man,” Ness continued, “I can’t stress this enough, I really can’t concentrate whenever I’m around her. I mean, have you  _ seen  _ her? She fights  _ so much  _ better than I do!”

Jeff adjusted his glasses. “Sounds like you’re jealous. But also smitten with her.”

“Is that even possible?” 

“Sure is. Look at you.”

He was right. He tried to repress the jealousy he had for her, but to no avail. Not only that, but he  _ liked  _ her. Like  _ liked  _ her.

“We really should get back to the others,” Jeff suggested, “I really don’t want to keep them waiting. And besides, there’s something that we need to be doing in Fourside.” 

Ness nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry for draggin’ you all the way here, by the way. I just wanted to get this off my chest somehow.”

“I understand,” Jeff replied, “It’s only natural for friends to do that, anyway. And we’re going on a journey to save the world, so we might as well.”

  
They were back in the hotel again. Jeff and Poo had already gone to sleep (Paula had to convince Jeff to, considering his poor sleep habits), so Ness was left to his own devices. Before he found it right to do the same, he noticed Paula walking back into the room. 

“Aren’t you going to sleep too?” she asked, with Ness taking note of her delicate and soothing voice. “It’s getting late, you know.”

“Wow,” was the only thing that came out of Ness’s mouth at that moment. He didn’t know why, but it did. And then he regretted it.

“I’m sorry?”

“N- nothing!” Ness said, trying not to be too loud. He didn’t want to wake Jeff and Poo up, anyway. He attempted to lower his voice, murmuring, “It was nothing.”

“Sure,” Paula replied laconically, sitting down on the bed Ness was in. “What’s going on?”

Ness was staring into her eyes rather lovingly, but he did his best to not make it obvious. “Do you not get the memo? I said I’m fine.” 

“No, I mean just in general.”

“O- oh,” Ness said, “I am  _ so  _ sorry. Then, nothing really, I’d say. But I’m not too sure myself.”

“You know you don’t need to apologize, Ness,” Paula said, sighing, “And are you sure something’s not up with you? You’re getting a little skittish.” 

She was testing his patience. “I said I’m fine. Seriously!” He kept his arms crossed as he said that.

As she got closer, his heart rate began to fasten, and he  _ swore _ he could feel his face burn. Just like that, she cupped her hands underneath his chin, thumbs stroking his cheeks.

“You know, I can tell when you lie,” Paula said, “You’re a very terrible liar.” She was smiling as she said this.

“I-”

He was unable to express what he was feeling. He wanted to stay like this, but at the same time he didn’t due to the sound of his heartbeat fluttering as he met her height. She was right, too. Even  _ he  _ could admit that he was a horrible liar. He had known that since his sister and mother told him when he was eight when asked if he brushed his teeth (he totally didn’t).

Ness couldn’t tell her that he loved her,  _ hell  _ no. Not in a million years, no. But he  _ could _ tell her that there was something wrong. 

“I guess,” He replied, “I’ve just been gettin’ distracted and stuff. It’s annoying, especially in fights.” 

“I can tell,” Paula said, nodding, “What’s up with that?”

He could tell her that he was envious of her, right? They’re friends, right? He can tell her these things, right?

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Ness said, “But every once in awhile, I feel jealous… of you. I mean, you have everything I don’t. You have more offensive PSI than me, and  _ I’m _ the leader! All I’m sayin’ is… I was so amazed by the way you fought, I could barely move!” 

Paula made a sound of affirmation.

“I know what you’re thinking,” He wasn’t reading her mind, actually, so he didn’t, “You think I’m weird, huh? Go on. You can say it.” His eyes were focusing on the floor as he said this. 

“Not at all,” Paula breathed, “I’m flattered, honestly. Depends on what you mean by ‘jealousy.’ As long as you don’t do anything weird, I’m fine with it.”

Ness turned to face her again. “Jealousy is the highest form of flattery.”

Paula seemed… almost impressed, but he wasn’t sure. “Didn’t know you had such a way with words.”

“I don’t,” Ness admitted, because to tell the truth, he didn’t, “But it’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“I guess you’re right.”

Silence fell among the two of them. Ness’s cheeks were starting to hurt as Paula’s fingernails were eventually digging into them. It wasn’t her fault, really. He also didn’t want her to see him blushing, so he politely asked her to stop cupping his chin. 

She did what he asked, but he couldn’t help but continue blushing around her. Though it was less obvious, so he was at least glad about that. 

“I’m sorry,” Ness said suddenly.

Paula perked up. “For what?” 

“We should be goin’ to sleep now,” He replied, turning to the open window, “Uhh, yeah, it’s almost morning.” He cursed more quietly, as he didn’t want Paula to hear. He already had an out-of-whack sleep schedule as it is.

He plopped onto the bed, head meeting the clean white pillow, sinking soundlessly into it. Paula did the same, minus the last part. What she did, though, was pull Ness closer to her. 

Ness relaxed, or tried to. His arms looped around near her chest, now closing his eyes. Perhaps jealousy wasn’t the best way to go about it. 

**Author's Note:**

> [ my twitter](https://twitter.com/Alumis5)
> 
> and i'm back with more nesspaula! i've been really in the mood to write shippy stuff lately, and i really love this pairing, so i couldn't resist. i'm going to publish a nessjeff fic sometime soon, since that pairing is great and needs more fics on here. anyways, i hope you enjoyed this fic!!


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